


Coal

by Diaryofanarcissisticgayman



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Harry is a doofus, M/M, Nobody gets seriously hurt, There's A Fire, this is short af
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-11
Updated: 2016-12-11
Packaged: 2018-09-07 21:57:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8817682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diaryofanarcissisticgayman/pseuds/Diaryofanarcissisticgayman
Summary: Harry starts a fire the wrong way. Niall saves him.





	

Niall feels something off before he even pulls up to the house. Nothing appears wrong at first glance, but he still feels like something is wrong. He stares at it for a moment, but everything looks peaceful enough. Then it hits him. All of the windows are dark. The sun went down hours ago, as it does in winter, but none of the lights are visible through the windows.

He steps out of the car, heart already hammering in his chest because Harry should be there, and Harry never goes to bed early. He always keeps Niall up for ages. Upon closer investigation of the windows, though, his heart stops dead in his chest.

Black tendrils of smoke are curling out of the edges of the frames, reaching up towards the sky with greedy little fingers. Niall takes off at a run towards the front door, praying to God that Harry left the door unlocked like he always does, which Niall always yells at him for. He knows - he knows - that he doesn’t have the wherewithal to put a key in a lock with the way his entire body is trembling. He can barely manage to keep himself upright, taking a glancing blow to the forehead from where he doesn’t take the turn on the path fast enough and scrapes his right side against the brick wall.

The door pushes open without resistance when Niall gets to it, and Niall thanks the heavens for once that his boyfriend is so forgetful and trusting. Smoke billows past him as soon as he throws the door open, and Niall feels the soot sting at his eyes. He opens his mouth to scream Harry’s name, but it fills with the acrid smoke and makes him choke before he can get anything out.

It takes a few seconds of coughing, but he gets his airway clear enough to shout for his boyfriend after he thinks to pull his shirt up over his mouth and nose like a mask. He doesn’t get a reply the first time, nor the second, which makes his blood pump through his veins so hard he’s sure they’re going to burst from the sheer terror he’s feeling.

But then Harry’s voice rasps back, just barely loud enough for Niall to hear.

“I’m in the living room.”

Niall stumbles through the entryway by the sheer ability of his memory, because he can’t see anything at all through the smoke. Not even fire, which confuses him, but leaves his brain room to focus on Harry, rather than finding a safe route out of the house. He feels his way around the room, using the couch to guide him until his foot catches on something and he hears a weak ‘ow!’

“Christ-” Niall breathes out as he crouches down, his hands finding a familiar set of broad shoulders and not-so-familiarly cropped hair. “Please tell me you’re okay.”

“I can’t stand.” Harry chokes out around a cough. “I think I hurt my ankle and my wrist. I tripped down the steps.”

“Just- Just grab on, alright?” Niall grunts out, feeling his way around Harry’s body until he’s got one hand under Harry’s back, and one under his knees.

He’s read those stories, those chain-emails that describe how a mother can lift a car off of her child with a surge of adrenaline. He’d always scoffed at them before, but when he lifts Harry up as easily as he would a baby, the back of his mind laughs at him for doubting.

Harry’s arms wind around Niall’s neck, and his face finds a place against Niall’s chest, and then Niall is moving. His knees and hips and elbows knock against the walls and furniture as he makes his way out, but he can’t even begin to feel any pain right now. All he can feel is the intense need to get Harry out of the house. Thank God he’d refused to let Harry get a cat a few weeks back, because the thing would have had to find its own way out.

He finally manages to stumble out through the front door, and drops to his knees once he’s out in the grass, cradling Harry against his chest.

“Are you okay?” Niall asks breathlessly, setting Harry down in the snow.

“C- Cold.” Harry squeaks out, trying to push himself back up into Niall’s lap so that he’s not in the snow. And it makes sense that he’s cold, given that the only thing on his body is a short, silk bathrobe. But Niall doesn’t really care that much about that, because he’s got time before hypothermia sets in. Fire damage is the much more immediate concern at the moment.

“What happened?” Niall asks, investigating Harry’s long legs first. “Why didn’t I see any flames?”

“You have to promise not to get mad.” Harry mumbles. “And remember that I could have died, so this really isn’t the worst thing that could have possibly happened.”

“Oh god.” Niall sighs. “What did you do, Harry?”

“I wanted a nice, romantic night for Christmas Eve.” Harry says quietly. “I decided to take a bath, and shave, and get myself cleaned with that soap that drives you crazy- But I wanted to take it a step further. I was going to light some candles, but then- Then I had the idea of laying out some pillows on the rug in front of the fireplace, and I thought it would be proper sexy if you like- Fucked me there, in front of the fire, like in the movies.

“But then I couldn’t get the fire to like- Light. I kept trying, and it kept burning out immediately. And we were out of those little fire starter stick things that you use, so I thought I’d substitute it with something else.”

“What did you use?” Niall asks.

“Charcoal?” Harry says, his voice going up at the end like it’s a question.

“Jaysus fucking Christ.” Niall mutters, shaking his head.

“It worked, though.” Harry says quickly. “It caught, and the wood started burning, and I went upstairs to take my bath. I was only up there for like- Ten minutes. Then when I came down, the whole bottom floor was filled with smoke, and it scared me, and I tripped down the stairs and hurt myself. I was trying to crawl out when you found me.”

“So there’s no fire damage on you, then?” Niall asks.

“Nope.” Harry says, shaking his head. “I managed to toss my pitcher of juice in the fireplace and put it out, so there’s no big fire or anything to destroy the house.”

“I don’t care about the bloody house, Harry.” Niall murmurs, pressing a kiss to Harry’s forehead and holding him close. “I just- You can’t do things like this.”

“Well, I didn’t fucking mean for it to happen.” Harry huffs. “I didn’t know that the flue was closed.”

“I meant putting yourself in danger, you knob.” Niall mumbles into Harry’s fringe. “You are never allowed to do anything with fire again. I don’t care if it’s lighting a candle. No more fire. I’d die if anything ever happened to you. I could lose the house and the car and my job, and I could handle that, but I couldn’t handle it if anything happened to you.”

“Then you might want to get me into somewhere with a heater before I freeze to death.” Harry says with a giggle. “Because my arse is fucking cold, and it would be a real shame if it froze off.”

“Let’s get you in the car and call the firemen.” Niall says gently, gathering Harry back up in his arms and lifting the both of them onto their feet. “Can’t carry you like that again, so you’re going to have to hop on your good leg.”

“At least I’ve got you to support me.” Harry says with a small smile.

“And save your dumb arse.” Niall snorts, leading Harry towards the car. “Honestly, Harry- Coal?”

“It’s in the theme of the season!” Harry hisses.

“I love the area your head was in, though.” Niall hums, opening up the door to the car and lowering Harry into the seat. “When the house isn’t covered in soot, we should revisit it. So you’re going to want to clean it all quickly.”

“Niall!” Harry whines. “I could have died!”

“Good thing you didn’t.” Niall smirks. “Someone’s gonna have to clean up your mess. But, if you do it in that kit, I might help.”

“I hope your Christmas present got smoke damaged.” Harry pouts, crossing his arms over his chest.

“You’re safe and sound.” Niall says quietly, ruffling his hand through Harry’s fringe and thanking the heavens that Harry cut it not too long ago, so it wasn’t still wet, because it would have frozen and risked getting Harry sick. “That’s the only thing I need for Christmas.”


End file.
